


I Said We Weren't There Yet, But I Guess We Are Now.....

by eccentric_artist_221b



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Autism, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Irondad, Spider Babies, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Whumptober 2018, sensory issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-25
Updated: 2018-10-25
Packaged: 2019-08-07 15:43:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16411310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eccentric_artist_221b/pseuds/eccentric_artist_221b
Summary: “It’s too much!” Peter wails, pressing the sides of his head and arching his back. “Mr. Stark!”Tony’s suit rocks from the boy’s movement, but it corrects and stays the course towards the Avengers compound.“The rain on your suit…it’s too loud!” Peter cries over the downpour, “I gotta…I gotta get down!!”





	I Said We Weren't There Yet, But I Guess We Are Now.....

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Bean_reads_fanfic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bean_reads_fanfic/gifts).



> HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY DEAR CHILD, EMILY!!  
> This ones for you, darling!!!  
> DAY 25 WHUMPTOBER PROMPT: RESTRAINTS
> 
> So…I just wanna preface with this…I use the term “restraints” quite loosely in this ficlet!! I didn’t feel like torturing my favs.  
> I also want to explain that this fic covers certain topics that may be sensitive to some readers. Its sort of a look in to Peter’s struggles with his spider sense and the similarities he might have with those that struggle with sensory overload.   
> I have close loved ones who are on the autism spectrum and I have actually used similar methods described in this story to help them through very stressful situations revolving sensory overload and many other issues!  
> That being said, I do not want to offend a single person on the autism spectrum or family/friends of those that are!! I hope this fic raises awareness and only conveys the highest respect for these wonderful people.   
> I also recognize that every one person is different! And autism is a broad term covering all kinds of different aspects!   
> And finally, (shut up, Sarah)…. this small scene was inspired by a movie I saw a few years back about the life of Temple Grandin! I highly recommend it!

“They did something to me!”

“Pete, I really think this is more of a-.”

“No! I felt it back there, Mr. Stark!”

Tony holds Peter under his arm pits as he flies through the rainy, night sky.

He can just make out the lights of the city…still quite unwilling to carry the teenager ‘close to his heart’, though his instincts keep ordering him to do so.

He always has been a rather defiant individual…and he makes no exceptions… _even for himself._

Now the kid’s been tampered with by some ‘highly dangerous’ felon they had to chase across the state…or at least that’s what the teenager’s convinced himself of at the moment….

Tony’s not so sure.

This wasn’t the first time in the last few weeks that Peter’s spider senses have been messing with him.

Granted, this particular episode is far worse than what he’s seen in the past…

_It could be some kind of a cold…_

_Maybe he’s dealing with a virus only spiders can get…_

_Do spider’s get viruses?_

_Has Peter ever been diagnosed with anxiety?_

_Is that what’s triggering his body to go completely out of whack?_

“I’m telling you, something’s not right, Mr. Stark! It’s like all my senses are trying to burn me alive!”

“Almost there, kid,” Tony says, as Peter continues to hyperventilate in his arms.

The suit’s communication system amplifies the terrible sound in his ears, and it heightens every parental instinct within him.

_He was unaware he had any until this kid came along…_

“It’s too much!” Peter wails, pressing the sides of his head and arching his back. “Mr. Stark!”

Tony’s suit rocks from the boy’s movement, but it corrects and stays the course towards the Avengers compound.

“The rain on your suit…it’s too loud!” Peter cries over the downpour, “I gotta…I gotta get down!!”

Tony can’t help but give in to such distress. Seeing a clearing in a patch of forest, he lands on a soft bed of pine needles and mossy earth as Peter shoves away from him and thrashes against whatever his body comes in contact with. Another scream tears through his throat as he pushes over a tree, at random, its roots snapping like a toothpick as branches and debris scatter all around the pair.

Tony watches on with both wonder and concern, having forgotten just how strong this boy really is.

He’s almost ready to step out of the suit when Peter tears off his mask and comes crashing back against him, gloved fingers pressed hard against the glowing arc reactor as he stares up at Tony with wide eyes.

“Mr. Stark…squeeze me,” the boy says, his curls already soaked and flattened against his wet cheeks.

“What? Squeeze you?” Tony’s helmet disappears,

“I need…p-p-pressure…I need something…please!!”

"What-why? I’m not gonna-”

Tony’s armor begins to disappear and Peter sobs, “No! With the suit, Mr.Stark!”

Fearing for the teenager’s sanity, the armor reappears again as Tony grabs the boy’s shoulders, "Are you delusional, kid? I’ll crush you!”

F.R.I.D.A.Y’s voice intervenes inside Tony’s helmet, her voice delicate, “Boss, I believe Peter is trying to seek deep pressure therapy as a way to cope with his body’s inability to process the sensory input in his nervous system.

"Okay? Soooo, what does that mean? Why can’t the kid right himself?”

“Peter is showing heightened mental and physical readings that are nearly identical to ones recorded from autistic children and those struggling with Sensory Processing Disorder,”

“His spider senses are causing this?”

“Yes boss. He needs the parasympathetic nervous system to take over in order to reset, but he will, most likely, not be able to do so without some assistance.”

“Tony, please!!!” Peter screams, whirling around and falling to his hands and knees.

“Alright…Alright…W-what do I do?” the older man asks.

“What he’s asking for, boss. You will not crush him. His frame can easily withstand it..Perhaps if you imagined him as a criminal that needs to be restrained, it would not be as-“

“Yeah, no, that’s not gonna…” Tony’s face burns, despite the weather.

Was this some sort of cruel and unusual punishment for denying his fatherly feelings this whole time? The helmet fades away again and he ignores the huge downpour pelting his face and down the back of his neck.

"Okay…Alright, kid? Things are about to get super awkward for both of us,” he says, pulling Peter to his feet.

The boy’s swollen eyes meet with his, rain dripping down his gaping lips and chin as violent shudders wrack his body.

He can’t focus on anything but the pain in his head, the deafening ring in his ears and the feeling of needles prickling all over his arms and leg.

“Turn around,” Tony orders gently, pinning the boy’s arms down at his sides and wrapping his own metal-covered arms firmly around his charge.

Peter feels the slight pressure and the tiny bit of relief it brings makes him crave more. “Tighter!”

Tony’s reluctant to oblige, but when he does, Peter slumps forward like a rag doll as the older man holds his weight to keep him standing up.

“Am I hurting you?”

Peter shakes his head side to side, swallowing as he finds his voice again, “More, please…"

Tony looks behind him and backs them up to sit against a tree, pulling Peter back to lean against his shoulder and squeezing gently on different parts of the boy’s scalp, keeping his other arm squished around his waist.

He does his best in trying to brush aside the fact that any other human would’ve had their guts spilling out like a jelly donut from the pressure he’s applying to Peter at the moment.

Instead, he chooses to focus solely on the world of good it seems to be doing the teenager.

“You’ll do anything for a hug,” he teases, hearing the boy taking big gulps of air at last.

“Y-yeah,” Peter gasps with a weak, little laugh, digging his fingers into the soft moss and dirt beneath Tony’s legs.

“Better?”

“Uh-huh.”

Clarity comes back with a vengeance for the Spiderkid, and now he has to deal with his face burning up from his ridiculous behavior.

Here they were, a stone’s throw away from the compound, and he’s practically sitting in Ironman’s lap over a meltdown…

What must his mentor…his favorite superhero think of him at this point?

 

_Mr. Stark hates hugs…_

”…’m sorry.“ This time it’s a whimper from the kid and Tony knows the adrenaline’s fading at last.

"Shhh. Stop it,” the billionaire whispers back, keeping a heavy hand over Peter’s forehead. “None of that…”

Peter’s wet sniffles are painful for the other man and he doesn’t have a freaking clue as to what to do next.

His eyes scan around the darkened trees, studying the line of city lights through a clearing to his right.

He adjusts slightly and Peter shakes his head, “W-w-wait,” he breathes, heart jolting from the movement.

“I’m not gonna stop ‘til you’re ready, alright? But when you are…think you can make it back to the compound? We’ll have my docs set you up with the good stuff and you can pass out for a while, okay?”

The reply never comes.

“Or pass out now,” Tony murmurs into Peter’s soaked hair, “Now’s good too.”


End file.
